Describes the 1816 sinking of the Medusa, the flagship of a French expedition en route to reclaim a colony in Senegal from the British, which ran aground thanks to the incompetence of the ship's captain, Hugo de Chaumareys, and details the resulting ordeal of its survivors, some of whom escaped in lifeboats, and the others who were forced onto a makeshift raft.

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Review:

"With powerful prose and riveting detail, Jonathan Miles has taken the story behind one of the world's most famous paintings and woven it into a timeless tale of betrayal and survival." -- Candice Millard

"A fascinating look into the machinations of Restoration France revolving around the horrific wreck of an Africa-bound ship and the famed painting it inspired that stirred all of Europe. The spellbinding characters and lucid writing make this a genuine page-turner." -- Winston F. Groom

"Hard to put down, this truly horrendous tale plumbs the depths of brutality and incompetence, as well as touching the bounds of human survival. The saga of Gericault's Medusa also illuminates vividly a little-known period of French history--those muddy years that followed the collapse of Waterloo." -- Alistair Horne